Ways to Change the World with Krishnan Guru-Murthy

Gina Martin is best known as the driving force behind the Voyeurism Act, which made upskirting, or the taking of pictures under a person’s clothing without permission, a criminal offence in England and Wales, after she was assaulted at a music festival.

The gender equality activist is now working to teach people how to challenge problematic statements such as ‘boys will be boys’ and ‘not all men’, and have constructive conversations on social justice issues.

Today on Ways to Change the World, Gina Martin tells Krishnan Guru-Murthy about the lessons she has learnt since changing the law on upskirting, the importance of trans voices, the online abuse she has received and why the conversation around masculinity needs to change.

Produced by Silvia Maresca

‘This earth that we love is in grave danger because of us,’ reads the first line of Sir Ben Okri’s poem, ‘The Broken’. 

The poet and Booker-prize winner, who has long been a vocal environmental activist, has seen the effects of the climate catastrophe firsthand, as a young boy growing up in Nigeria, but is optimistic that it’s not too late to reverse the damage that’s been done to our planet.

Today on Ways to Change the World, Ben Okri tells Krishnan Guru-Murthy about the urgent need for action on climate change, the importance of disruptive protests like Just Stop Oil, and why artists like him should use their voice to encourage people to rise up to the challenge.

Produced by Alice Wagstaffe and Silvia Maresca

When he fled his war-torn hometown of Damascus, Imad Al Arnab spent three dangerous months smuggled in lorries trying to reach Europe. He arrived in the UK in the autumn of 2015 with a fake passport and just £12 in his pocket.

Now, the Syrian chef has opened his own restaurant in Soho, and written a cookbook that is as much a celebration of his homeland as a reflection of his experience as a refugee.

Today on Ways to Change the World, Imad Al Arnab joins Krishnan Guru-Murthy to talk about fleeing Syria and his journey from losing everything in the war to rebuilding a life in the UK.

Produced by Annie La Vespa, Silvia Maresca and Alice Wagstaffe

Brought up on a council estate in the East End of London, the son of a single mother whose own father was a bank robber and whose mother once shared a prison cell with Christine Keeler, Wes Streeting MP owes his life to a fry up.

His working class background and the challenges he experienced growing up in poverty now inform the Shadow Health Secretary’s mission in politics, to ensure others like him have similar opportunities.

Today on Ways to Change the World, Wes Streeting joins Krishnan Guru-Murthy to talk about his journey from a Stepney council estate to the Labour frontbench in Westminster, his optimism that poverty is a trap we can escape and his vision for an NHS ‘fit for the future’ on the eve of the 2024 UK general election.

Produced by Silvia Maresca

Warning: The following contains language that some viewers might find offensive

When Evgenia Kara-Murza and her husband Vladimir parted ways in April 2022, she had no idea that would be the last time they’d see each other.

Vladimir, a long-time Russian opposition activist, was arrested in Moscow later that month and is now serving 25 years in prison for his public criticism of President Vladimir Putin and Russia's war on Ukraine. Since then, Evgenia has taken up the mantle of his activism, travelling around the world to speak out against his detention and the crimes of Putin’s authoritarian regime.

Today on Ways to Change the World, Evgenia Kara-Murza joins Krishnan Guru-Murthy to talk about her fight to free Russia’s political prisoners, the toll Vladimir’s detention has taken on their family and whether she can envisage a future in a free, democratic Russia.

Produced by Silvia Maresca

For a generation growing up in the rural US state of Virginia, opioid addiction isn't an abstraction - it's neighbours, parents, and friends.

Writer Barbara Kingsolver wanted to give these ‘lost boys’ of Appalachia a voice; to tell the story of the children forced into a life of foster care because their parents are dead, in prison or too incapacitated by addiction.

Today on Ways to Change the World, the award-winning author joins Krishnan Guru-Murthy to talk about America’s opioid crisis, the devastating impact it has on rural communities and how she set out to write ‘the great Appalachian novel’, tracing back the steps of Charles Dickens.

Produced by Silvia Maresca

In 1988, a 15-year-old Kamila Shamsie stayed up all night to watch Pakistan elect its first woman prime minister. Years later, and politics is still very much at the centre of the writer’s life – on and off the page.

The Pakistani / British writer has long been a vocal critic of the UK government’s immigration and civil rights policies, and yet she only felt able to write Home Fire – which offers a piercing critique of Islamophobia within the British political establishment – after she became a citizen of the country.

Today on Ways to Change the World, Kamila Shamsie joins Krishnan Guru-Murthy to discuss her Pakistani upbringing, how politics shaped her writing and her view of Suella Braverman’s ‘racist’ immigration policy.

Produced by Silvia Maresca and Alice Wagstaffe

What is ultra-processed food? And do we really know what it’s doing to our bodies, our health, and the planet?

Chris van Tulleken is a doctor and TV presenter who says most of the food that we eat isn’t really food. “Whether you're eating a burger, or a piece of fried chicken, or a breakfast cereal, there are illusions of texture. There will be little crunches and pops and snaps and greasy bits and dry bits and chewy bits. But it's all inhalably fast-to-eat and the hormones that tell you to stop just can't keep up.”

His latest book, ‘Ultra-Processed People’, explores how ultra-processed food is designed to fuel addiction and is creating an epidemic of diet-related disease. 

Today, Chris joins Krishnan Guru-Murthy on Ways to Change the World to discuss the dangers of a UPF diet, and why urgent government regulation is needed.

Produced by Annie La Vespa, Freya Pickford and Alice Wagstaffe. 

Sadiq Khan has been the mayor of London since 2016, and he’s seeking a third term next year. 

In today’s episode of Ways to Change the World, Sadiq talks to Krishnan about his new book, ‘Breathe’, in which explores why tackling the climate emergency has become his defining policy, as the mayor of London. 

Sadiq also discusses the crisis of policing in London, the possibility of a Labour government in Downing Street and why the UK government should be allowing more migrants to move to London.

This podcast was recorded on June 24 2023. 

Produced by: Freya Pickford

Nick Cave hates giving interviews. It’s the first thing he mentions in his new book, “Faith, Hope & Carnage”, which comprises a series of conversations between Cave and the writer Seán O’Hagan. 

So it’s with some trepidation that Krishnan Guru-Murthy sits down with the post punk legend, to discuss the book, along with Cave’s attending the coronation, the tragic death of his son, his attitudes towards free speech and political correctness, and his journey to find - and define - happiness.

With thanks to  the London Review Bookshop, where this interview was filmed. 

Produced by Alice Wagstaffe.

When Suzanne Simard discovered that trees could communicate through underground networks of fungi in 1997, her work was largely dismissed.But today, as a Professor of Forest Ecology at the University of British Columbia, her work is recognised as pioneering within the scientific community.

In her book ‘Finding Mother Tree’, she explores how forests have ‘hub trees’ that play an important role in plant communication.In today’s episode of Ways to Change the World, Suzanne looks back at her work, and explains to Krishnan Guru-Murthy how it could help protect forests from climate change.

Produced by Imahn Robertson and Annie La Vespa.

In 2017, Azeem Rafiq’s world collapsed around him. He lost his baby son, and shortly after, the career that he had worked his entire life for, after he blew the whistle on racism and bullying at Yorkshire County Cricket Club. Azeem found himself at the centre of a long-running scandal which unlocked a long process which is now international. 

In the years that followed, Rafiq’s grief, his battle with the club, and numerous allegations of poor behaviour against himself, saw him reach the lowest of lows - struggling for money, often staying in bed for days at a time. 

Fast forward to 2023, Azeem has written a new book, “It’s Not Banter, It’s Racism: What Cricket’s Dirty Secret Reveals About Our Society”, and is looking ahead to a brighter future; hoping to get back into the game that he has devoted his life too, and campaigning for meaningful change in sport. 

In today’s episode of Ways to Change the World, Azeem looks back at several years of pain and growth, and tells Krishnan Guru-Murthy about his hopes for the future.  

Produced by Freya Pickford, Imahn Robertson and Alice Wagstaffe.

Warning: this episode includes offensive language. 

He is an actor who would be hard to typecast, but Eddie Marsan always plays the villain. “I think it has a lot to do with my upbringing”, he says, “there was a lot of violence, criminality and a lot of toxic masculinity.” 

“I remember being afraid of white working class men. When you see Danny Dyer, Ray Winstone… they have an appeal to them, and I've never been able to do that. And it's because of my experience growing up within the white working class; there was always an element of fear.”

Today on Ways to Change the World, Eddie Marsan joins Krishnan Guru-Murthy to discuss his chaotic upbringing, lessons in Buddhist teachings, and how actors from privileged backgrounds can find success despite being “mediocre”. 

Produced by Imahn Robertson 

Warning: This episode contains offensive language

“I don't think you can expect someone to change their life by putting them in a room and locking the door.” Michael Balogun might not believe that prison “helps” people to turn their life around, but it was undoubtedly his experience serving time that led him to where he is today - a star of the West End, currently appearing in a version of the Lehman Trilogy at the National Theatre. 

But there’s more to Balogun than a zero to hero story; his is one of extraordinary resilience, the power of manifestation, and a chance encounter with someone who saw his potential that changed everything. 

Michael Balogun joins Krishnan Guru-Murthy on Ways to Change the World to discuss how he turned his life around through acting, and why the power of your thoughts matter.

Produced by: Imahn Robertson

“On the television, they were saying we were thieves, that we were raised with no morals”. Growing up Black in 1970s Britain, writer Gary Younge didn’t feel fully accepted - he didn’t even feel British. “Someone would go, “it’s cold today isn’t it, I bet it’s not like this where you come from,” and you’d be like, "I come from just down the road mate!”

His latest book, Dispatches from the Diaspora, looks at a lifetime of writing about Black life, spanning a 30-year career, based in Britain and America, that goes from Mandela to Obama and from Stormzy to Black Lives Matter.  

He joins Krishnan Guru-Murthy on Ways to Change the World to discuss significant events that have impacted the Black diaspora, his mother’s influence and what he can teach the next generation of journalists.

Produced by: Imahn Robertson

How can the government attract the country’s best minds to work for them? How do we know when a private sector contract is a good one? And what can we learn from NASA about business and efficiency? 

Mariana Mazzucato is a professor of Economics at the University College London and an advisor to many governments. In her latest book, ‘The Big Con’, she looks at the relationship between the consulting industry and government, and the way business and governments are run, and plans executed. 

She joins Krishnan Guru-Murthy on Ways to Change the World to discuss how economic theory can streamline everything from school lunches to handling a pandemic, and the link between knife crime and the economy. 

Produced by Imahn Robertson and Ka Yee Mak

“We're the only species who have worked out to blow up everything and kill everyone”. In his latest book, The Earth Transformed, Peter Frankopan takes on the entirety of the history of planet earth, and looks at how our lives have been shaped by environmental changes since the dawn of our planet, 4.5 billion years ago, until the present day. He tackles the transformation of the earth, teasing apart the connection between humans and climate, explaining how “we are the product of massive climate change in the past”, and looks ahead to crises anew. 

In this episode of Ways to Change the World, Peter Frankopan sits down with Krishnan Guru-Murthy to discuss how humans have impacted the world, the existential threat posed by nuclear war and global superpowers, and what happens “when the music stops”. 

Produced by: Imahn Robertson

Sebastian Payne is an author and the Director of centre-right think tank Onward, where he explores the bigger problems and challenges facing Britain today. 

He recently left his post as Whitehall Editor of the Financial Times, where he spent years navigating the corridors of Parliament, detangling the latest scandals and finding out what politics really means for people up and down the country. His childhood, growing up in Gateshead, influenced him to write one of his books, ‘Broken Heartlands’, and he went on to write ‘The Fall of Boris Johnson’, charting the former PM’s final weeks in office. 

In today’s Ways to Change the World, Sebastian Payne sits down with Krishnan Guru-Murthy to discuss Brexit, Boris, and what we can expect from the next general election. 

Produced by Imahn Robertson.

“I’m a nomadic person, I don’t want to stay in one place”. When Baaba writes his music, he takes inspiration from the places he visits. “When I started travelling, I came to London, I bought cassettes, I appreciated different people. And when I got a chance to meet them, we sat down and wrote songs”. But no matter how much Baaba has travelled, and to where, he always brings his music “back home to Podor, Senegal”. 

Baaba has released his first solo album in seven years, ‘Being’, which is inspired by working on the soundtrack to Black Panther and the issues facing the world today, including climate change and desertification in African countries. In today’s Ways to Change the World, Baaba sits down with Krishnan Guru-Murthy to discuss the power of music and why we are all politicians in our own way when it comes to helping the world. 

Produced by: Imahn Robertson and Alice Wagstaffe

Music credits:

Wakanda by Ludwig Göransson ft. Baaba Maal - Hollywood Records

Yela by Baaba Maal - Island Records Ltd.

There Will Be Time (Live in South Africa) by Mumford & Sons and Baaba Maal - Gentlemen of the Road, Island, Glassnote